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<h1>Welcome</h1>
<p>
  Welcome to the <strong>Rhizosphere</strong> documentation pages!
  These pages contain all the information you need to use Rhizosphere from
  the end user perspective all the way down to the code internals and reference
  material for Rhizosphere developers.
</p>
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>
  <strong>Rhizosphere</strong> is an innovative project to provide in-browser
  html-based spatial navigation and interaction on structured data.
</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is a data visualization tool: it lets you
  visualize, browse, filter and act upon datasets of your choice.
  Nowadays you're submerged by tons of data and information, stored in a
  variety of different places: the cloud, websites, spreadsheets, custom formats
  used by your applications.
</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere purpose is to provide a simple but effective way to flow through
  your data and help you locate the information that you know it's there,
  but it's lost amidst the noise. Until now, you have probably always used
  mostly one paradigm to organize information: tables and spreadsheets.
  They can be cumbersome when you need to sift through many parameters and
  dimensions. Rihzosphere is the alternative.

</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is a web-based visualization, implemented as a pure javascript
  library. It runs within your browser and it doesn't require any additional
  plugins: no Flash, no Silverlight.
  It is tuned for multiple execution environments, from desktop
  PCs to smartphones and tablets. It can run both as a standalone full-page
  visualization and as an embedded component inside other webpages and online
  applications (like Google Spreadsheets or iGoogle).
</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is <strong>small</strong> and <strong>fast</strong>: once minified
  and gzipped, the library is <strong>26Kb</strong> on the wire
  (as of October 2010). We aim to provide sub-second performance for all the
  operations supported by the visualization, even when handling large datasets
  with thousands of datapoints.
</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is <strong>flexible</strong>: we'd like to let you visualize your
  data no matter where you keep them and what format you are using to store
  them. 
</p>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is <strong>open</strong>. You're free to modify the source code
  and use it within your own projects according to terms of the Apache2
  <a href="/doc/license.html">License</a>. We welcome all sorts of contributions,
  from fixes to documentation typos to code patches: have a look at how to
  <a href="/doc/contrib_overview.html">Contribute</a>.
</p>

<h3>Motivation</h3>
<p>
  Rhizosphere is driven by 5 main reasons:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><strong>Data Overload</strong>:
    The cloud of data that links to our digital identity is getting bigger
    and bigger: pictures, documents, contacts, searches, shopping items...
    We dive deeper and deeper to find the needles we are looking for in our
    digital haystack. Structured and entity search become more relevant.
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Mobile and Cloud</strong>:
    Internet-connected mobile devices with advanced
    capabilities (touch-enabled smartphones and tablets) are the Next Big Thing.
    It shouldn't matter whether you are in front of your desktop or on the run,
    you should always be able to visualize the data you need. 
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>New interaction patterns</strong>:
    Ever increasing personal digital clouds, touch interfaces and the spread of
    native apps for mobile devices have changed the way users look for
    information. Interaction is now much stronger and physical.
    They no longer browse for information, they manipulate it.
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Simplicity</strong>:
    No matter how complex is the data you want to visualize and how hidden are
    the patterns you want to explore, you should be able to explore them with
    simplicity and ease without having to read a 200 pages manual to understand
    how the tool works.
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Speed</strong>:
    HTML5 and continuous speed improvements make browsers capable of rivaling
    native applications, in terms of interaction and speed. But they surpass
    native applications in portability and reach.
  </li>
</ul>
<h2>Next ...</h2>
<p>
  Start by having a look at the library <a href="/doc/features.html">Features</a>.
</p>
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